French's Ledges, NH

French's Ledges, NH is a 4.1 mile loop trail located near Plainfield, New Hampshire that features a river and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.

dogs on leash

cross country skiing

hiking

mountain biking

snowshoeing

running

forest

river

views

wild flowers

wildlife

blowdown

bugs

muddy

rocky

scramble

snow

Frenches ledges is one of several interconnected trails in this area. They are well marked. Mountain biking is good on well maintained trails and you can climb to the ledges for a 360 degree view.

At least 4 trail heads but here are two:
From Colby Rd: 43.55610, 72.27143 This is a widend pull off can take 4 cars
From Columbus Jordan RD: 43.55273, 72.28220 A marked and mowed spot can take 4 or 5 cars. This area is better for mountain bikes then the one on Colby rd. In front of you is d

On columbus Jordan Rd a mile further then above is another good mountain bike trail head with room for 3 cars. It's at: 43.54733, 72.28741
If you choose to park at the 43.55273, 72.28220 mowed area you will face Farnum trails. The ledges is a trail accross the road behind you.

Fun trail, the view was beautiful. Tried my luck with the smaller trails that extended further into the woods after the peak (the peak is not too far from the official parking area) and I got turned around because of the lack of trail markers. I did see mt bikers and dogs while I was walking.

Nice quick trail run up to a beautiful view. Ran from Kimball Union to Plainfield Elementary to the Ledges and back and got 5 miles round trip. Followed the blue markings without any trouble (red at the top). Looking forward to trying more of the trails.

Loved the trail- very easy walking as it’s used for Mt. Biking a lot however lots of little trails throughout and it’s easy to get turned around because trails aren’t marked the best. Only steep part is right before top which wasn’t bad at all for a complete 360 view. Hiked with baby in back- good for family and kids.

Trail heads can be confusing. Suggesting use this map instead http://www.uvlt.org/docs/trails/Frenchs-trailmap-2005-11-16.pdf
We started with the "middle" trail heads - which has a parking spot but the trail is so poorly marked and there were many bifurcations inside - got confused and detoured a couple of times. Eventually found the red markers and followed - which was from the "north trailhead". The ledge takes 5 minutes to climb up. Good view on the top - good for a sat morning walk (will not call it a hike). Barely got heart rate up. When going down, followed the blue markers - which were well marked and easy to follow. It leads to the "south" trail heads. I would use this trailhead or north one to start in the future.
For blue/south trailhead - you can reach the ledge probably 15-30 min, less than 2 miles for sure.

Nice trail from Plainfield school. Good view for low price (3.1 miles) Google maps took me elsewhere but I found no trailhead. I used another all trails hikers map to get to Plainfield school. It worked!

Very well marked and maintained trails, two entrances on Colby Hill (the long way) and two more further up the road on Columbus Jordan road (the shorter way). I prefer the first one on Columbus Jordan, dirt parking and its the junction of the Ledge trails and the Farnum lot trails. The summit view from the ledge is a must see!

Frenches ledges is one of several interconnected trails in this area. They are well marked. Mountain biking is good on well maintained trails and you can climb to the ledges for a 360 degree view.
At least 4 trail heads but here are two:
From Colby Rd: 43.55610, 72.27143 This is a widend pull off can take 4 cars
From Columbus Jordan RD: 43.55273, 72.28220 A marked and mowed spot can take 4 or 5 cars. This area is better for mountain bikes then the one on Colby rd.